Politicians make liars of themselves every day of the week — “read my lips, no new taxes”; “a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized” — but it is unusual to see an administration bely itself as wholly as the Obama administration has on the question of the Iranian nuclear program. This is no simple “evolution” by Mr. Obama, as we can at least excuse the president of the United States for evolving along with his citizenry and the Supreme Court. Rather, this is a wholesale repudiation of Obama’s suggestions over the years that Iran could not have even a proto-nuclear program, could not enrich, should not have hardened facilities, must come clean about past nuclear activities, would only get phased sanctions relief, and… well, the list is too long.
Luckily for those of us who listen to the president, but can’t keep track of his, er, evolutions, the Foreign Policy Initiative has compiled a handy then vs now set of red lines that Obama and his team have laid out in recent years. It’s an eye opener on everything from the demand Iran “dismantle” its nuclear infrastructure, repudiating the notion of a “right to enrich”, the existence of hardened facilities at Fordow, the Arak heavy water reactor, breakout capacity (once the red line was “none”), sanctions relief and enforcement, ballistic missiles (once they were going to be part of a final deal), and the infamous “no deal is better than a bad deal.” As you read through the depressing litany of reversals, concessions and caves, consider all the things that aren’t on the table this week in Switzerland: Terrorism. Delivery systems. Syria. Yemen. Gaza. Iraq. Oh, and human rights.
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